Category — General
Black is White . George Will is…
Black is White . George Will is…: “
Black is White. George Will is joining the chorus of attack on the universities: Academics, such as the next secretary of state, still decorate Washington, but academia is less listened to than it was. It has marginalized itself, partly by political shrillness and… [Leiter Reports]
Ahh. I was all set to write something about this but anyone who thinks and who has read George Will knows that he is the absolute model of modern day pundit. Meaning that facts and knowledge enter little in their world.“
(Via A Man with a Ph.D. – Richard Gayle’s Weblog.)
But let us translate: what Mr. Will really means is that universities are places where the banalities and misinformation which are the lifeblood of the mass media are not taken seriously; where people who think Iraq attacked the World Trade Center have a tough time holding their own in grown-up conversation; where apologists for state terror have to confront the arguments of those who know an apology for state terror when they see it; where lies about economic and social policy are perceived as lies, and made to answer to facts and evidence; where, in short, the parochial smugness of an effete little simpleton like George Will (and his many clones who constitute the “diversity” of the mass media) is perceived as exactly that.
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I’m not saying we have special access to knowledge, but i will say that there are experts that disagree and have good reason to disagree with certain policies of the current administration. those reasons though have nothing to do with faith, and have much to do with facts and their interpretation.
November 30, 2004 No Comments
George W Bush is the AntiChrist
George W Bush is the AntiChrist: “”
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if i were inclined to believe the myths involved, this would be believable.
November 30, 2004 No Comments
Psychology Today: Cupid’s Comeuppance
Psychology Today: Cupid’s Comeuppance: “”
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this is a fairly interesting analysis of the neurochemistry of love and pair-bonding in humans, explaining why, chemical interventions in such chemistry has effects.
November 30, 2004 No Comments
Supreme Court Denies Review of Challenge to Gay Marriage
Supreme Court Denies Review of Challenge to Gay Marriage: “by TChris Faced with the novel argument that federal courts should protect state citizens from a state court’s “tyrannical” interpretation of a state constitution, the United States Supreme Court declined to review a failed challenge to same-sex marriage in Massachusetts….”
(Via TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime.)
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a win for state’s rights, this might be the way to put these things, contrive them to be a choice between two principles….
November 29, 2004 No Comments
My First Entry
These pages will contain my musing on many issues, spanning a diverse range of
concerns. However, the primary purpose I have in mind for this blog is to act
as a sort of public notepad for my PhD research. If you don’t know me, I am a
student of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. My main research
area is international relations theory and I am essentially interested in how IR
theorists think about Empire and
Imperialism.
If you want to know more
about my academic background. please feel free to visit my main website at
http://homepage.mac.com/thenervousfishdown/ — Here you will be able to download
my CV as formatted for an academic audience. In the meantime, please do check
back on this site from time to time as I be frequently posting notes from my
research and other thoughts.
“
(Via NervousFishblog.)
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apparently Mr. Kiersey…. has a blog……
November 29, 2004 No Comments
sometimes good people pass on
November 29, 2004 No Comments
If you care about the humanities
If you care about the humanities: “Then you must read Mark Bauerlein’s absolutely smoking essay on bad academic writing. A review of Just Being Difficult? Academic…”
(Via Critical Mass.)
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i don’t see this as a real problem…. the question is not one of addressing the public, but finding the points of translation, or who translates to the public. not every person should write for a general audience, nor should every person be required to do so.
November 29, 2004 No Comments
interesting conference.
The Two Cultures:
Reconsidering the division between the Sciences and Humanities
http://nchsr.arts.unsw.edu.au/twocultures.html
21 and 22 July 2005 Venue: Lecture Room A, Webster Building, the University
of NSW
The Two Cultures: Reconsidering the division between the Sciences and
Humanities, will bring scholars together from the sciences (physics,
molecular biology, computation, evolutionary systems) and the humanities,
social sciences and cultural theory whose work has philosophical resonance.
The purpose will be an interrogation and
reassessment of current understandings of the fact/value,
real/representation, nature/culture split. One of thecasualties of “the
linguistic turn” which displaced “natural facts” with “cultural
constructs” is that scientific research that purports to explain natural
facts (without inverted commas) has been difficult to engage. Despite the
rapid changes in technological, medical, and scientific innovation that
demand a serious reconsideration of human identity – what it is and what we
want it to be – intellectual cooperation between the humanities and sciences
over such questions remains desultory. This conference hopes to broaden the
terms of understanding and critical exchange between these research
communities.
Themes
· Biosemiosis: living systems as language systems
· Feminism and Science: a forbidden intimacy?
· Re-Figuring the Representation Question: mathematics, data
and prediction
· Biotechnology and Ethical Futures: where to from here?
Participants include:
· Professor Karen Barad: Women’s Studies and Philosophy, Mount Holyoke
College (theoretical particle physicist, research expertise on Niels Bohr
and
quantum mechanics)
· Professor Jesper Hoffmeyer: Institute of Molecular Biology, University of
Copenhagen (molecular biologist, biosemiotician)
· Associate Professor Thomas Lamarre: East Asian Studies, McGill University,
Montreal (marine biologist, biophilosopher, research expertise on
archaeology of inscription)
· Dr Philippa Uwins: Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Microscopy and
Microanalysis, The University of Queensland (research expertise on
nanobes, origin of life)
· Dr Sha Xin Wei History of Science, Harvard University (mathematics,
cultural theory, art practice)
· Dr. Melinda Cooper: Sociology, Macquarie University (biophilosophy)
· Dr. Vicki Kirby: Sociology and Anthropology, UNSW (semiology,
biophilosophy)
· Dr Catherine Mills: Philosophy, UNSW (biopolitics, biotechnology, ethics)
· Dr Catherine Waldby: Sociology and Anthropology, UNSW (feminism,
biomedicine)
· Dr Elizabeth Wilson: University of Sydney (cognitive psychology and
biophilosophy)
· Dr Heather Worth: Deputy Director, National Centre in HIV Research,
UNSW
Cost: $150/$75 students
Registrations: Email Rodney McDonald at rodney.mcdonald@unsw.edu.au;
include: Name; email address;
organisation; postal address and contact phone number
Proudly Supported by: The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; UNSW
More information can be found at the website:
http://nchsr.arts.unsw.edu.au/twocultures.html
November 29, 2004 No Comments
Funny: Why Women Live Longer Than Men
November 28, 2004 No Comments
godless communism
November 28, 2004 No Comments